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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has warned
Iran that it would be stripped of its right to host the 2015 Under-19 men’s
world volleyball championship if it bans women from attending matches. The
warning signals a new assertiveness driven by the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) to make adherence to human, gender and labour rights a
condition for potential hosts of major sporting events and raises pressure not
only on Iran but also Saudi Arabia, the two nations that bar women from stadia.

The stakes for Iran and Saudi Arabia are high against a
backdrop of on-and-off debate in both countries about lifting the ban that has
been continuously opposed by religious conservatives.

Growing frustration with
Saudi restrictions on women’s participation in international sporting events
has prompted the IOC to subtly increase pressure on the kingdom. An Iranian and
Saudi refusal could potentially lead to the two countries being barred from
international competitions.

To be clear, Iran unlike Saudi Arabia encourages women’s sports
and fields female athletes in international tournaments provided they are
allowed to wear a headdress that meets both cultural and security and safety
standards. Saudi Arabia by contrast evaded being banned from participation in
the 2012 London Olympics by fielding at the last minute two expatriate Saudi
female athletes, the first time the kingdom officially sent women to an
international tournament.

The kingdom has since stalled on fulfilling its promise to
encourage women’s sports. A meeting in September between IOC President Thomas
Bach, who has instructed his group to write adherence to human, gender and
labour rights into all future Olympic host city contracts, and Saudi Olympic
chief Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz produced little progress on the
issue of women’s sporting rights. Prince Abdullah insisted that the kingdom had
failed to field women at the recent Asian Games because it did not have
qualified athletes.

Mohammed al-Mishal, the secretary-general of Saudi Olympic
Committee, promised however to do so at the 2016 Olympics in Rio Janeiro. Mr.
Al-Mishal said however that women would be limited to sports endorsed by a
literal interpretation of the Qur’an. The Saudi official said the kingdom was
training women to compete in equestrian, fencing, shooting, and archery Olympic
contest which are "accepted culturally and religiously in Saudi
Arabia".

The Saudi reluctance is further evident in the fact that the
kingdom is taking only miniscule steps to encourage women’s sports. The kingdom
has hired consultants to draft its first five-year sports plan that focuses on
men only.

The country’s Shura Council, a consultative assembly, however,
has urged the education ministry to study the possibility of introducing
physical education for girls in public schools. The move could lead to a lifting
of the ban on female sports in public schools. Moreover, authorities last year
began licensing private sports clubs for women.

Women’s gyms are sprouting across the country often linked
to beauty salons or in private apartments. “The government does not issue
licenses for women’s sports clubs. But as long as there are women who want
agile and graceful bodies, such gyms will thrive in the Kingdom,” Fatimah, an
owner of a gym, told Arab News.

Efforts to lift the ban on women attending matches in Saudi
Arabia and Iran have so far stranded on conservative opposition. The FIVB ban
followed the sentencing to a year in prison of a 25-year old dual
Iranian-British national, Goncheh Ghavami, for attempting to enter a World
League volleyball match Teheran’s Azadi Stadium between Iran and Italy. Ms.
Ghavami has since gone on hunger strike. She was convicted of spreading
propaganda against the Iranian government.

A FIVB spokesman said that the federation "will not
give Iran the right to host any future FIVB directly controlled events such as
World Championships, especially under age, until the ban on women attending
volleyball matches is lifted." Iran is scheduled to next year host the
Under-19 men’s world championship. Argentina has been asked to stand-by to
replace Iran as the host of the tournament.

The FIVB made its decision after talks with Human Rights
Watch, which has also held met with Mr. Bach. The meeting with the IOC
president marked a new era in the group’s attitude towards human rights. Mr.
Bach’s predecessor, Jacques Rogge, refused to meet with human rights groups
during his tenure.

In a statement, FIVB president Ary Graca said that "women
throughout the world should be allowed to watch and participate in volleyball
on an equal basis."

Iran’s Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei blocked an attempt in 2006
by then president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to lift the ban on women attending sports
events. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly toyed in recent years with adapting stadia
to offer separate sections for women, a proposal supported by the Saudi soccer
association. The effort much like similar moves to lift the ban on women
driving in the kingdom have so far been stymied by conservatives.

Saudi Arabia has also refused to sign on to a two-year old declaration
by the majority of Middle Eastern soccer associations grouped in the West Asian Football Federation
to put women’s sporting rights on par with those of men.

The FIVB sanction fuels Iran’s culture wars that are fought
in part in street art. A recent mural on one of Tehran’s main thoroughfares
pictured a woman wearing a national soccer team jersey as she washed dishes at
home. The mural went viral on social media. In the mural, the woman raised a
cup of yellowish dishwash solution as if it were the World Cup trophy in what
was seen as a rejection of conservative notions that a woman’s place is at
home.

At stake in the battle is however far more than just women’s
sports rights. Those rights are part of a larger struggle for Iran’s future as
Iran negotiates with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council an agreement that would resolve the Iranian nuclear problem. Iranian
conservatives fear that a successful negotiation would strengthen the hand of
supporters of reformist president Hassan Rohani in parliamentary elections
scheduled for the spring of 2016.

With popular support for the nuclear talks, conservatives
hope to thwart Mr. Rouhani by appealing to traditional values in their effort
to undercut his efforts to reduce repression and allow for greater freedom of
expression and access to information, promote gender equality, and ease
cultural and educational restrictions. Mr. Rouhani like other members of his
Cabinet regularly posts messages on Facebook and Twitter despite the fact that
access to social media sites is frequently blocked in Iran. The president has
also argued publicly that freedom is a precondition for creativity and has
contradicted conservative efforts to curb fun.

James M.
Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and the
author of The Turbulent World of Middle East
Soccer blog.

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About Me

James M DorseyWelcome to The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Soccer in the Middle East and North Africa is played as much on as off the pitch. Stadiums are a symbol of the battle for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights. Alongside the mosque, the stadium was until the Arab revolt erupted in late 2010 the only alternative public space for venting pent-up anger and frustration. It was the training ground in countries like Egypt and Tunisia where militant fans prepared for a day in which their organization and street battle experience would serve them in the showdown with autocratic rulers. Soccer has its own unique thrill – a high-stakes game of cat and mouse between militants and security forces and a struggle for a trophy grander than the FIFA World Cup: the future of a region. This blog explores the role of soccer at a time of transition from autocratic rule to a more open society. It also features James’s daily political comment on the region’s developments. Contact: incoherentblog@gmail.comView my complete profile